Variety of reasons influenced Truman State's decision to switch from the MIAA to the GLVC

Friday

Jun 8, 2012 at 12:01 AMJul 25, 2012 at 2:38 PM

Truman State, a member of the MIAA since its inception in 2012, announced Friday it has accepted the Great Lakes Valley Conference's invitation and will switch conferences for the 2013-14 school year.

Josh Rizzo

KIRKSVILLE- Truman State accepted an invitation from the Great Lakes Valley Conference Friday to move its athletic programs from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association beginning with the 2013-14 school year.

Truman State, a member of the MIAA since its inception in 1912, became the sixth Missouri school to join the GLVC and the 16th member of the conference. The Bulldogs will join Drury University, Maryville University (St. Louis), Missouri S&T, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Rockhurst University and William Jewell College as Missouri schools in the conference.

Truman State will have to inform the MIAA before the end of the month of its decision to leave and pay an exit fee of $80,000. The Bulldogs will compete in the MIAA during the 2012-13 season, the conference’s 100th year.

GLVC commissioner Jim Naumovich said in a press release that he’s excited for Truman State to join the conference.

“The Great Lakes Valley Conference is pleased to welcome Truman State University to one of the premier NCAA Division II conferences in the country,” Naumovich said. “The success that Truman has displayed both in the classroom and on the field with be a tremendous fit for the GLVC. As the conference landscape has shifted in recent years, the GLVC has looked to identify and admit schools within the league’s geographic footprint that will strengthen the conference both academically and athletically.”

The MIAA CEO Council announced it formally accepted Truman State’s withdrawal, effective June 30.

“Truman State has been a charter member of the MIAA, and they have provided first class competition for our entire 100 years,” MIAA Commissioner Dr. Bob Boerigter said. “Our members have accepted their resignation with regret, but we wish them well in their new league. Since the GLVC is a neighbor of the MIAA, we expect that non-conference competition in some sports will continue.”

Truman State president Troy Paino said the MIAA’s expansion westward into Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas was part of the reason for the switch.

Truman State averaged 247.7 miles a road trip during the 2011-12 season and that will swell to 290.5 miles with the addition of Central Oklahoma State, Northeast Oklahoma State, the University of Nebraska Kearney and Lindenwood (Missouri).

“It’s certainly a factor. I wouldn’t say it was the only factor, but it was a significant factor,” Paino said. “The MIAA made a conscious decision to expand westward well into Oklahoma, Western Kansas and even Western Nebraska. As the MIAA expanded westward, it put Truman here in Kirksville, Mo., in Northeast Missouri as more and more of an outlier geographically. At the same time, the GLVC over the same course of years expanded westward into Missouri, making us central to the GLVC Conference. “

Truman State has been in contact with the GLVC since 2007, Bulldogs Athletic Director Jerry Wollmering said in February. The move wasn’t made at that time because the conference didn’t house as many Missouri schools and didn’t sponsor football.

The two sides renewed talks in January and the GLVC will be adding football.

“We’ve kept our pulse on this for six or seven years,” Wollmering said. “Back in 2007, the GLVC made a visit to our campus and ever since then we’ve kept a pulse on what everybody is doing around us. Since that time, they’ve added four schools within 400 miles of us.”

Paino said the move will provide the Bulldogs with more opportunities to be competitive.

“The athletic fit, the sports we offer, and the conference sports that the GLVC offers [are a good fit],” Paino said. “This is going to afford our student-athletes more opportunities to compete for conference championships…That wasn’t the case with the MIAA quite honestly. We had a lot of teams that weren’t able to compete for conference championships and now they will. So that’s wonderful for our student-athletes and that’s what this is all about.”

Truman State will join three other GLVC schools that have a 90 percent academic success rate.

“I think it’s a good academic fit as well, I think the GLVC has the right priorities,” Paino said. “They are true student-athletes. Academics is a priority with the schools in the GLVC.”